Battle of the Tarigo Convoy

Battle of the Tarigo Convoy
Part of the Battle of the Mediterranean of the Second World War
Relief map of the Mediterranean Sea
Date 16 April 1941 Location Off the Kerkennah Islands, Tunisia in the Mediterranean 35°9′27.13″N 11°30′49.22″E / 35.1575361°N 11.5136722°E / 35.1575361; 11.5136722 Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Italy
Commanders and leaders
Philip Mack	Pietro de Cristofaro †
Strength
4 destroyers 2 reconnaissance aircraft	3 destroyers 4 merchant ships 1 ammunition ship 1 reconnaissance aircraft
Casualties and losses
43 killed 1 destroyer sunk	350–1,800 killed 2 destroyers sunk 1 destroyer beached 4 cargo ships sunk or destroyed

The Battle of the Tarigo Convoy (sometimes called the Action off Sfax) was a naval battle of the Second World War, part of the Battle of the Mediterranean. It was fought on 16 April 1941, between four Royal Navy destroyers and three Italian destroyers of the Regia Marina which were escorting a convoy near the Kerkennah Islands off Sfax, on the Tunisian coast.

Control of the sea between Italy and Libya was important to both sides to protect their convoys and attack those of their opponent. Axis convoys to North Africa supplied Italian colonists and German and Italian military forces. British attacks came from Malta, also dependent upon convoys for supplies.

The five ships in the convoy were sunk or run aground, along with their three destroyer escorts, one being refloated later in the year, for the loss of a British destroyer. The British success alleviated the pressure from Winston Churchill and the Admiralty in London on Admiral Andrew Cunningham to do more about Italian supply convoys.